


gods' playground

by BailMyQuayle



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, DSMP, Dream Smp, Gods AU, Implied/Referenced Suicide, READ AUTHORS NOTE, Violence, a few ocs but not heavily involved in plot, actually probably very out of character, basically dsmp but written down and added angst, discontinued dont get ur hopes up, for now, gods playground - au, idk what im doing, slight OOC maybe, tag how????, uhh pretty much no romance, was absolutely NOT beta read lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BailMyQuayle/pseuds/BailMyQuayle
Summary: Life is a cycle of chaos and peace, darkness and light.The world had come to an end, mankind was laid to rest.The gods had decided to punish humanity for its sins.But now, they dare to dream again, of a world which they will conquer.Can man challenge the gods? Can he consume their flesh and become them? Can he rule over the world, and decide its fate?Or will they fall once more into the destruction and chaos for which they'd been condemned?
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	1. Act I Scene I: Be Reborn Again and Again

**Author's Note:**

> Aight this is my first fic. The first two chapters are mostly background to the au. Uhhh enjoy?

January 5th, 2021. A normal day, cold, still lingering with the remains of the holiday spirits. Clay had just finished breakfast and was sat on his couch, watching TV with his cat, Patches. That was when his peaceful morning was interrupted by a scream outside. He nearly jumped out of his skin, and scared Patches away in the process.

When he heard another, he became worried. He looked out the window, only to wish he hadn’t a few moments later.

The sky was a fiery red, with orange and yellow streaks falling to the ground like rain. In the distance, a bright blue glow pulsed. 

Was this the end?

Suddenly, a loud crash drew his attention back to the living room. A flaming ball of...something had crashed into the kitchen. His home was being consumed by flame.

Was he dreaming? Didn’t seem likely. The heat of the flames felt much too real.

After catching his breath, Clay grabbed his cat and ran. Where was his family? Right, they had gone on a trip and he’d offered to watch the house. He cursed fate. Would he really die alone with his cat? He loved her but he’d like to be with someone who he could at least talk to him.

Together they hid in the basement, Patches scratching at him. Why couldn’t he stop shaking? Everything was going wrong so quickly. What was he going to do? Why. Why. WHY.

The blue filled his vision, and suddenly, he was gone.

~~~

How long had it been already? He couldn’t see and he couldn’t hear or feel. Was this death? Had he gone to hell? Clay didn’t know.

Over the years he floated in the void, feeling around him. Not in the way he used to feel the fabric of his clothes or the leather of a football or the soft fur of his cat. It was something more...spiritual…in a way. That’s the conclusion he came to at least.

He could feel others near him. Sometimes they bumped into each other.

A small thought, is how it started out.

Clay really wished he could have said goodbye. His family was likely far away, too far to find. He remembered a friend, one who was supposed to come over from across the world that day. That damned day.

Over millennia Clay’s wish to live again, do things he hadn’t had the courage to do, say things he hadn’t gotten to say, became stronger.

That’s what set him apart. He was determined, and he always found a way.

So it was this desire to live that drew him to that golden glow, surrounded by white and green, that felt like life. As he swam closer to it, awkwardly trying to get closer, he felt others do the same. People like him, ambitious and with a strong desire to do something followed his lead. He suddenly felt like swimming. That was odd.

And as he reached that mysterious, tempting glow, his world turned yellow.

~~~

Sunlight poked him hard in both eyes. He missed the warmth of the sun, but he did not miss waking up in the morning.

“Uggghhhh, five more minutes mom,” he groaned, before realization hit him. 

He was alive.

Quickly he sat up, looking around him wildly. Was this real? Was this a dream? It didn’t seem like it.

His hands, they brushed against grass and earth. The wind tickled his skin and the sun warmed it. The sky was blue, just slightly more vibrant than the one he used to know. In the distance were bright gray mountains capped by snow. He hadn’t lived near a mountain when he was alive.

But he was alive now. And this was where he had been reborn.

Reborn.

He spotted a lake nearby. Maybe that’s why he had felt like swimming. He resisted jumping in though, and instead approached the still water. He nearly fell in when he saw his reflection in it.

His skin and hair were entirely white, but his eyes were a shocking black, similar to the color of the void. His home until now. And strangely, crawling across his arms and neck were green tendrils. Leaves. Vines.

He pinched one.

It hurt.

“Okay,” he said aloud after having a small panic. “I have leaves growing out of my back, that’s fine.” It was weird, but maybe he had reincarnated as some kind of plant-human hybrid. It didn’t matter. He was alive.

He lay back down on the grass, smiling, a small chuckle escaping from his throat as the reality of what had happened sunk in. 

“YES!” he shouted, hands raised to the sky. “I’M ALIVE!” He continued to yell his heart out for the next five minutes before settling down. He looked solemnly at the water now. 

Even if he was alive, he was still alone. 

He missed them. His family, his coworkers, his friends.

George. Nick. 

He’d have to find them and bring them back too. That was a promise. One that would have to be fulfilled after he found something to eat, because he was starving now.

Oh no.

How was he supposed to get food?


	2. Act I Scene II: Take Over the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new name and a new world. Conquer it and make it yours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clay figures out how to play Minecraft :D

It had been two weeks since Clay woke up, and he still wasn’t used to seeing his snow-white skin in the reflection of the water. Something about him had changed when he was reborn. There were new things he felt, new opinions he never knew he had, new thoughts and wants. 

Even his name didn’t seem to feel right anymore. This person with perfectly white, unblemished skin wasn’t the Clay he was before.

He needed a new name before he went crazy.

Other than that, he was very happy with how things had been going. He’d barely managed to get food, killing a sheep with a rock he’d found. He hadn’t wondered why a sheep would be wandering in a forest. He was too preoccupied trying to start a fire to cook the fruit of his labor.

Soon night had fallen, and he made his bed on the grass. New life was different, but it was life. That’s all he cared about.

The next day he had tried to figure out how to make a shelter. He couldn’t make an axe without string to hold it all together. He needed wood and he needed tools and he needed the wood to make the tools and tools to get the wood.

It was quite frustrating.

So much so, that he hotheadedly punched a tree. He winced a few moments after his fist had made contact, but the pain didn’t come. 

Instead, he had felled the whole tree with his one punch. That was new.

After that, Clay experimented with his newfound strength. He cut down multiple trees and built a makeshift shelter that looked more like a sad box. He wasn’t sure how it stood so well. He was no engineer and yet it stayed perfectly upright. It wasn’t the best, but he’d made it so it was fine with him.

Then, night fell again and he realized he had explored a bit too far from his camp. That was when he heard a terrifying growl.

A rotting hand had grabbed his arm, and he had screamed louder than he’d ever admit. He swung blindly with the wood plank he was holding, and heard it smack into whatever had grabbed him. 

Turning, he saw a thing of nightmares. 

“WHAT THE HELL!” He screamed and tried to run, but the green, rotting zombie followed him. 

‘Am I going to die again?’ he thought, thinking of any way he could escape. He continued running, but in the dark, his foot snagged on a tree root and he fell. 

Straight into a dark hole. With another zombie.

With only some wood on him, he had no hope. Silently he prayed for some kind of weapon. Maybe whatever god had put him here would be kind enough to help out. Or at least make his second death not too painful.

To his surprise, the wood in hand glowed, and became warm. His hopes were raised for half a second, before he realized there was no weapon in his hand. Just a table.

“WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS?” He screamed at the night sky above. He smacked the zombie in front of him with the remaining wood in his hands. Still, even though he’d only been given some stupid table, he had a bit more hope for survival now. The universe gave him this table, now he just had to figure out what they wanted him to do with it. After all, they must have given it to him to do  _ something _ with, right? They wouldn’t just give him something useless when he asked for help,  _ right? _

He ran, table and wood in hand, trying to get out of the hole to escape the two zombies. Clambering out, he slammed the table on the ground and the wood on top of it.

“Please, please, give me a weapon, a knife, a sword, anything!” he begged the table. His black eyes stared in surprise when his wish was granted. It felt like a hand had brushed against his as the wood was shaped and transformed into a crude sword. As if the Universe’s hand had answered his call and made him a weapon. As if the table was a promise to help. And though it was wooden, it was certainly more effective than a table and some planks.

Grinning, he took on the zombies, and came back victorious to his small shelter, eager to pass out on the grassy floor.

~~~

Clay decided that with his overwhelming strength and the universe helping him, he could take on anything. It was like a dream.

Dream.

He liked that. Perhaps he’d call himself Dream then. He had a lot of dreams for this world after all, and he was determined to make them a reality.

Whistling merrily, Dream made his way. Soon after the zombie incident, he had become determined to create better tools. While his wooden sword had served him well, it was beginning to break, and he knew he needed something better. 

That was what led to him clutching a pickaxe and making his way back to the cave where he fell. That was what led to him discovering zombies weren’t the only hostile creatures in this world. 

He’d only gotten a few bits of stone before being chased away by skeletons, gigantic spiders, and a sentient ball of green slime.

What was with all the green?

Luckily the stone was enough to fashion a new sword and a better pick, as well as what appeared to be an oven at first. He was confused until something akin to a whisper told him it was a furnace with which he could melt metal and cook food. Make glass and light. He was really happy after that.

The very next day he braved the cave again, managing to find enough iron to make an even better sword. In addition to that, he made armor, an axe, pickaxe, a shovel, a bucket, and a shield. He was starting to look very snazzy with all his shiny metal tools. 

It had taken humanity thousands of years to get this far, and here he was, doing it in a week. Then again, humanity hadn’t had the universe to help them. No, Dream was special in that regard.

For a bit he was worried he wouldn’t be able to wear his armor and carry all his tools at the same time. Not to mention hold all of the things he picked up on his explorations.

That problem seemed to fix itself too, as if the universe really was listening in and helping him.

He’d been fiddling with a crude leather belt he had made, frowning as he couldn’t seem to fit everything in a way that let him move easily, when his sword popped out of existence. He stared at the space where it had just disappeared from.

“What the—” he started. Curiously, he asked for the sword back in his mind, and just like that, it popped right back into his hands. 

He tried this a few more times before he was able to summon his tools in less than a second. Satisfied, he went out to explore, taking all of his things and leaving his little house behind.

He was ready. He was going to learn more about this strange new world and he was going to  _ conquer it. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so this is v. obviously just exposition, but next chapter is where we finally get to meet Gogy :D


	3. Act I Scene III: Friends and Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GOGY TIME!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty now we're getting into the good stuff. Next few chapters will be fun and lead into a new arc.

Dream had been exploring for three days, travelling to the North. When he had seen the smoke, he quite literally jumped for joy. Smoke meant fire. Fire meant life.

Maybe he wasn’t alone after all.

His hopes were further raised when he saw the buildings. Surely there must be many people here. Maybe they could tell him more about the world.

However, the people in the village weren’t like him. Their faces and bodies were warped. They didn’t talk like he did. They only hummed and grunted, as if their vocal cords were gone or their tongues not evolved yet.

Dream was sorely disappointed, and had only spent one night and day in the village. He found the villagers didn’t care when he took their crops and rummaged through their stuff. He felt a bit guilty about stealing, but they wouldn’t have to know. Besides, it seemed like they hadn’t built the village themselves anyway, considering their clear lack of intelligence.

They were willing to trade him items if he offered them a shiny green rock. One he had found in a chest in a house. An emerald. 

The shiny gem intrigued him for a bit. How had they gotten such a valuable jewel when they could not even talk? These questions escaped his mind when he found the village library though.

And there he found all the answers he wanted and more.

A book written in a strange language, as if in runes. Despite that, he found he could still read it if he focused hard enough, and what he learnt sent him once again jumping for joy.

Instructions on how to create a “player”. Someone like him. It meant there were people who had come there before him and it meant he could bring people back. 

As if he were a god.

~~~

With book in hand, Dream left the village and begun his preparations. The first people he wanted to bring back were his friends.

The book instructed him to find a source of glowstone, the golden glow that had led him out of the void, as well as water, and a source of live flesh.

That last requirement made Dream wonder if this book was actually a fraud. The instructions seemed like ones to some kind of weird ritual that would summon some other odd creature, not one to bring back his friends.

He didn’t have much to lose though, so he decided it was worth a shot. Water and flesh was easy enough to find, but what exactly was glowstone and how did he get it? A small note in the corner of the page led him to a diagram of a rectangular portal made from obsidian and activated with fire. 

And so, Dream set out to find a lava pool. That’s how he spent the next day travelling, until one evening, he got into a fight with a witch.

He had gotten a sticky green potion thrown on him (what was with this world and the color green?) and it had apparently poisoned him. He could feel his body breaking apart, literally. The delicate strings that held him together seemed to become taut and frayed. He could feel himself being brought to the brink of death once more.

Still, with his superior weapons and frightening determination to live, he slayed the witch. He decided to loot the body, hoping to find more potions or some magic object. And what else did he find but a small bottle of glowstone, recognizable because of its golden glow, and the familiar feeling of life.

He got the things he needed. Now all he needed was the soul.

~~~

Another day was spent wandering. Dream squinted at seemingly nothing, trying to figure out which soul was George’s. He was the first person he’d thought to revive.

Truthfully, it might’ve been easier or more moral to revive his family, but they had been so far from him at the time of their demise.

And, well, he wasn’t quite sure he wanted them to come back to this world. As he made a camp in a flower field, he wondered if he was doing the right thing. Was it selfish to bring back his friends? Into this world of danger, of strange creatures that looked like tall, rotted corpses, or more green things that could explode or shoot you.

He fell fitfully to sleep, and there, he found his answer.

Void. The exact same shade of darkness as his eyes. Looking down he had no body, just his mind. And here a voice whispered to him.

“Bring me back soon, Dream, and we can hang out again,” soothed the voice. Dream faded back to unconsciousness.

When he awoke, he made up his mind. 

Unfortunately, he’d need to sacrifice some poor living thing to get his friend back, but he didn’t care at this point. He was tired of being alone.

In the dead of night, he kidnapped a villager from the place where the book came from, and brought it over to the river. There, he started his work.

Equal parts water and glowstone, flesh of the living, souls of the dead. Dream hoped and prayed as he worked silently that George would be the first soul to enter the new vessel. The book had told him that players were not just one person, but many. The first soul in the vessel would usually be the one in control, while the others remained docile.

That explained his sudden interest in things he’d never been interested in before, like card games and for some odd reason, mangoes. He was many people in one.

Would that change George as well? Would they still get along? Suddenly Dream felt like hesitating. Testing theories, perhaps, to ensure his friend was whole and himself when he came back to life. But, those words whispered to him in the void, they pushed his hands forward, mixing the ingredients.

There was a brilliant glow, colored brown and blue. Blue like the cornflowers surrounding them in the field. Brown like the earth and the tunic of the villager he had kidnapped as sacrifice. Like a star, that felt like home.

And suddenly, in his arms, was George.

“Hey Dream.”


	4. Act I Scene IIII: Friends Go to Hell Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gogy is back, Dre feels bad for not bringing back Sapnap yet, and they decide to go to hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw this is based off when Dream and George started off the SMP. They wanted to go to the nether and check out what was new. They also died. A lot. ;))

Over the next few days, Dream informed George about their new world, telling him all he needed to know.

“—so that’s why I stopped trusting anything green,” Dream said, recalling the story of the creeper which had blown up in his face, nearly killing him. George laughed. As Dream laughed along, a warm feeling spread through his chest and down to his fingertips. He was so happy to have a friend.

George had already been decked out in iron armor and tools. Together they had spent a day mining, and even found diamonds, from which they made a pickaxe and sword, saving a few for later.

Dream was a bit surprised at how well George had adapted. He hadn’t commented much on Dream’s new, strange appearance, and had immediately started calling him his new name the second he was brought back to life.

But, that just proved how great George was. In fact, Dream had started getting worried in his search for George’s soul. It was perhaps luck or fate that had brought him back and not some random person. 

Dream expressed this to George as they made their way back from the caves.

“Then I guess I would’ve been George-not-found huh?” he joked. Dream laughed, but in a small part of his mind, he realized that would’ve been his worst nightmare, and not a laughing matter at all.

He’d have to protect George with his life.

~~~

Dream and George had built a bigger shelter. It looked nicer, and still somehow didn’t collapse. They slept on beds they’d stolen from the village, exhausted.

The next day they decided to just hang around a bit. Dream took this opportunity to continue reading the book. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t really want to show it to George, even if he was his friend. Something about it told him not to.

So absorbed was he in his reading that he didn’t notice George peering over his shoulder at the page about the Nether portal.

“What’s that Dream?” he asked curiously.

Dream laughed a bit, not really sure whether to deflect or simply throw the book out the window. The former choice might hurt his relationship with George. He didn’t want to make George think he didn’t trust him, not when he had brought him back to life first. 

Guiltily he thought of Nick.

George looked at him, still waiting for an answer. 

“It’s instructions on how to get to another dimension, but you need lava to get there,” he answered truthfully. It probably wouldn’t hurt to tell the truth about this. There wasn’t even any lava nearby the—

“Oh, I saw a lava pool when I went out to get fish, we should go check it out!” George told him excitedly. “I want to see what cool stuff is there.”

Dream didn’t want to break that precious smile by refusing, so he reluctantly agreed. He didn’t want to tell George that a place only accessible through a portal made from lava didn’t sound particularly safe, plus George had proven himself quite good at combat. Even saving him once.

Maybe he was being overprotective. He shook his head.

“Well then, let’s grab our armor and go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't beta read so idk if it's any good lol. New chapter within a week probably but this is it for now.


	5. Act I Scene V: Not Ready to Say Goodbye Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nether time :))))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun chapter. Finally some action.

As Dream exited the house, he changed his green shirt into a cloak, with black clothes underneath. He was surprised when George had appeared fully clothed in a blue shirt and jeans. That would at least explain the blue glow. Embarrassingly, he was still naked, only shielded by the leaves that had gone to surround most of his body like a weird costume that was also a part of him.

After that Dream figured out that he could make the leaves turn into his clothes, solving that rather awkward problem. It was more for saving face than practicality. He had noticed he hadn’t felt the cold or heat ever since he’d been reborn. He wondered if it was the same for George who had turned his blue shirt—apparently created from the cornflowers near the “summoning site” as George dubbed it—into a sweater.

Together they trekked through the forest to arrive at a lava pool embedded into the side of a mountain. 

Following the instructions in the book, they clumsily created the portal.

“Well then, after you Dream,” George said teasingly, taking a small bow.

“Pft.” He loved when George joked around with him.

However, he was still nervous to strike the flint. Was this really a good idea? A heavy feeling in his gut told him to turn around. Make an excuse and force George away from the obsidian structure.

Shaking his head, he decided to go through with lighting the portal anyways. He wasn’t a coward, and George could handle himself.

Together they stepped through the purple portal, and entered into the Nether.

~~~

He hadn’t known what to expect. The book said nothing more on the Nether other than that it was “an interesting place filled with mysteries.”

That was a bit of an under exaggeration. Or really, not accurate at all.

As soon as he entered the Nether, he had been struck still by the sight of it.

Pools of lava, dripping seemingly endlessly from the ceiling. Flesh-colored ground that was hard yet fragile, breaking slightly under his feet as he explored cautiously. In the distance, a black castle, broken and ruined, stood in the midst of this hellscape.

Strange creatures walked on the fiery pools. Half-dead pig-people stumbled around, parts of their skeletons exposed. Many of them holding golden weapons. In the distance, a loud, piercing wail echoed, scaring both of them.

“Where the _hell_ are we?” George asked. The pun went unnoticed by Dream, who had begun to climb down the cliff they stood on.

“Dream, what are you doing?” George looked at him like he’d gone mad. 

“I’m going to get inside that black castle thing.” George frowned. A black, ruined castle in what was essentially hell? Yeah, not exactly very safe-sounding. Though it was his idea to come to the Nether, George wasn’t intent on finding some weird boss-mob-type creature and dying to it.

“Alright then, you can go back if you want, but I’m going,” Dream looked up at him, hanging off the side of the cliff. The temptations of the castle were too strong to resist. What mysteries could it hold? Knowledge, precious stones, magical artifacts?

“Ugh, fine.”

~~~

He should not have agreed to this. As soon as the pair had entered the ruins, pig-people, not unlike the half-dead ones, started attacking them. The two were able to fend them off, but it really didn’t make the place seem any safer to be in.

“Dream maybe we should go back.”

“Oh come on George, don’t be a scaredy-cat,” was the reply, as Dream consulted his little book. “It says we need to wear gold for some reason.”

Quickly, they went and made some gold armor, before continuing inside the ruins.

Then, they saw it. Right at the center, in the midst of a pool of lava, was a pile of gold.

“We should grab it.”

“ _What?_ ”

And so they did. 

They snatched up the gold—using their magical ability to send stuff into some kind of other dimension of sorts to carry it all—and decided to try and loot some of the chests they had found.

“Hey Dream, what’s this black metal ingot?” George asked, holding up the piece he’d found in a chest. It was nearly the length of his forearm.

Dream once again consulted his book. “It says it’s called Netherite.”

“Huh, what’s it for? Is it better than diamond orrrrrr—”

“GEORGE THIS IS AWESOME!” Dream suddenly shouted. He looked at the white and green man disgruntled.

“What? You nearly blew out my eardrums.”

“This thing can be used to make a super strong armor when combined with diamond stuff and it doesn’t even burn in lava!” Dream excitedly showed him the page. They grinned at each other.

And then, an arrow had been lodged in George’s chest. Dream watched, eyes refusing to close, as golden liquid spilt from the wound in his friend’s chest and slowly dripped from his mouth.

“George?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how we feeling?


	6. Act I Scene VI: World Without You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy here we go :))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy :)))

“Drea—” George managed to choke out, before the golden liquid—his blood, Dream realized—escaped from his mouth, blocking whatever else he was about to say. Another arrow whooshed past, scratching his white skin. He didn’t care, not when his friend was dying in front of him.

“ _No_. **_No_**. **_NO_**!” Dream screamed at the top of his lungs. His chest felt hot and yet cold at the same time. A heavy dread filled him, bringing him to his knees. He reached out for his friend, now collapsed on the cracked ground.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. George had been doing so well in this world. He had just been brought back. _Why. **Why.** **WHY!**_

“Damn it George, what—” Dream pulled at his friend, unsure of what to say. Another arrow flew towards them, lodging itself in the ground next to his friend. 

His eyes closed, dulled brown and blue looked at his friend one last time, and he breathed his last.

Dream clutched the blue sweater in his hands, not sure what words he was screaming, but he was certain they were sufficient enough to curse whatever cruel Universe had given him this fate. 

The pigmen rushed towards them. Dream didn’t care, they could kill him if they wanted to. Maybe they had been attracted by his yells. Maybe it was his fault that—his fault that—

Maybe if he hadn’t made George come with him, this wouldn’t have happened. 

Filled with grief and guilt, he swung ferociously at the pigmen until he was alone, standing in the center of the ruined castle, clothes stained with red and gold blood. Alone. He was alone again.

He turned back to George, and felt the wetness in his eyes return. Kneeling, he gently picked up the body of his friend, hugging it close to him. His tears soaked the blue sweater, fists grasping the fabric tighter. Until they weren’t.

Dream was forced to look up when he felt the blue fabric slip from between his fingers. He held back a sob, watching as parts of George’s hair and face and limbs slowly faded away, turning to a green and gold dust, and floating off into the sky. Away from him.

Squinting hard, he watched the pieces of soul make their way back to—

No way.

Maybe there was hope.

As fast as he could, Dream ran back to the black and purple portal, following the green and gold particles. He didn’t care if his cloak caught fire on the way. He just needed to know if his theory, his absurd hope, was right.

He couldn’t see where the pieces of George’s soul went after he went through the portal. He was blind and in the dark, vision blurred by tears and panic.

So he did the only thing he could think of.

His legs burned from the effort as he traversed the forest, running blindly to the place where he’d felt the happiest he had since he had come to this world. 

The river where George had been reborn.

By the time he reached the river, his legs were about to give out. He was so hopeful, so much so that part of him couldn’t believe it when he only saw the blue cornflowers being gently swayed by the wind. Where was George? He was certain the pieces of his friend would return to their origin, but looking around, there was nothing

He sobbed again, choking on tears, he collapsed to the ground. His voice was gone and his screams could not be heard by whatever cruel fate had cursed him, had hurt him.

Dejectedly, he made his way back home, numb from the cold and grief.

Opening the doors, it took a moment for his tired mind to process the sight in front of him. Sitting on his red bed, was a person, dressed in a blue shirt and jeans.

“Hey Dream.”

“...George?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gogy really died after 2 chapters of being alive huh. Anyways Sapnap is coming back yayyyy. This one is a bit short but soon we'll be getting to the real fun part so stay tuned


	7. Act I Scene VII: Emerge from Flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SAPNAP

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter but next one will be the beginning of a new arc :) hopefully will be a bit longer

Together, Dream and George made their way to the nearest source of water they could find. The lake where Dream had been reborn. By the time they had gotten there, the sun had begun to set.

“It’s going to be too dark for us to go back now,” George commented, sitting down on the sand. Dream begun preparing the things they would need to bring back Nick. He hummed in agreement as he opened the bottle of glowstone.

“Then let’s set up camp and stay here for the night.”

Soon the campfire was lit, casting a warm light around them. Dream poured the glowstone into a bucket of water, while George held the hare they’d caught for the “summoning”. The only thing left to do was pray Nick’s soul was somewhere nearby, and that’d he be lucky enough to be the “main” soul in the new body.

The two of them were silent as they worked in the dim fire-light. The hare struggled against George’s hold as Dream poured the glowstone-water mixture in a circle on the ground. Carefully, George placed the hare in the center, not realizing as he moved that his pant-leg caught on fire.

“George your le—” Dream started, but was interrupted by the sudden fiery glow that appeared. A mix of white, black, and red outshone the light of the campfire, blazing like a star. The two friends stood still as statues, waiting to see who would emerge from the burning light. 

After a few moments the glow began to ebb, becoming more solid until a person in black and white clothes with a white bandana plopped softly down onto the grass. Silence filled the air.

“Nick?” Dream asked, apprehensive. The person looked at him.

“Uhhh, who are you?”

~~~

After Dream got over the panic of the person who _sounded_ like his friend not recognizing him, they explained slowly to the new person what had just happened.

“—so we brought this hare over and it basically made you,” George finished saying. 

“And you’re telling me this guy,” he pointed at the green and white man, “Is supposed to be Clay? I mean, he’s _green_.”

“Yeah, that’s Clay,” George confirmed. “So then you really are Nick? You look...different.”

“Hey what’s that supposed to mean?!” Nick exclaimed, indignant. “I think I look great.”

“Pft.” Dream watched as his friends bickered. He would never get tired of them.

“Well, I’m glad you’re back Nick,” he said. “We’re gonna have a lot of fun together.”

Yes, all was well. Dream had his friends back, and he felt ready to take on anything. With his friends by his side, he felt as if he could even take on a dragon.

He always found a way. The campfire that washed a warm light over him and his friends was proof of that. He’d died, been reborn, and got back what was his.

He was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not for long >:))


	8. Act I Scene VIII: The Beginning of

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream, Nick, and George decide to go on an adventure.
> 
> What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kinda just filler but it was fun to write and a lot of the scenes are based on actual things that happened in Dream's videos :)
> 
> Next chapter is super fun!
> 
> Happy holidays and enjoy :))

“Woah this place is dope!” Nick exclaimed as he entered their home. It was a simple, humble little cabin nestled deep in the forest. Decorated with little things they had found on their journeys.

“I’m glad you like it,” Dream said, walking towards the kitchen. “I can make us something to eat if you’re hungry.”

“You can cook now?” Nick asked, skeptical. The white and green man chuckled. 

“The Universe does it for me.”

Soon they were seated around the table, lambchops and baked potatoes on their plates. The three quickly dug in, finishing the food off quickly.

“—so then you went to another dimension?!” Nick asked, incredulous. He was amazed by every little thing he learned about this new world. Dream thought it was quite cute. “Are there more?”

“More potatoes?” George asked.

“No, more dimensions idiot.”

Dream froze. His thoughts wandered to a section of the book he hadn’t dared to read yet. The ominous warnings on the page separating it from the rest of the book were enough to convince him he didn’t want anything to do with it.

The End.

Even its name was ominous. Dream hoped his friends wouldn’t notice how quiet he was being and wouldn’t question him. He couldn’t possibly win two against one.

“Well, we learned about the Nether from Dream’s book, so maybe that ha—”

“NO!” Dream suddenly said, slamming his hand on the table.

“...Uhh, are you okay dude?” Nick asked. 

“I-um yeah, I’m fine,” he replied weakly. He’d given it away now hadn’t he—

“Uhh maybe you should get some rest buddy,” Nick told him, patting him on the shoulder. “It’s late now soooo…”

“Oh right, we stole a bed from the village for you Nick,” George said, pulling the bed out of thin air.

_ Crash _

“...”

“Oops.”

~~~

The next day Dream had decided to read his book again, when he heard George calling him from outside.

“—look at that! It’s a wolf!”

Dream put his book down, going outside to look at the wolf George had found.

“Whose a good boy! You are!” 

“You know it could be a girl too, right?” Dream asked, non-existent eyebrow raised.

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s a boy, just look at—”

“WHAT THE HELL GEORGE!”

“Wait I— No don’t  _ pee _ —”

After the wolf had left, Dream and George entered the cabin again, arguing about how they were going to get the pee stains out of George’s shirt, and if their clothes were even removable since they seemed to be a part of them.

That’s when Dream stopped walking, nearly slamming into the table.

Nick was reading his book.

“Oh, hey Dream,” he said, looking up. “I just saw this on your bed and was bored so—”

“Huh that’s the book I was talking about yesterday at dinner,” George remarked.

“Oh, yeah,” Nick laughed a bit nervously. His hand rubbed the back of his neck. “I was reading this part about the End. It looked interesting so uhhh…”

George had walked over to Nick’s side, taking a look at the page, leaving Dream standing still as a statue by the table.

“Woah, that looks cool!” George turned to Dream. “We should go, it’ll be like an adventure!”

“I—what? Oh, um,” Dream stuttered. He wasn’t sure what to do in the heat of the moment. How could he convince them not to go—

“Yeah dude! It’ll be our first adventure together after our reunion!” Nick said, bouncing on the balls of his feet now, his eyes lit up like a child’s.

Dream really needed to learn to resist his friends’ puppy-dog eyes. They were his mortal weakness in this new world.

Guess they were going to the End now.

~~~

“AGHHH!” Nick screamed, nearly falling in another hole for the fifth time that day.

“Are you okay?” George asked calmly, not even looking over.

“Yeah, but you could at least act a little worried!”

“You won’t die or anything,” Dream reassured. “You only need to eat to heal.”

“Sheesh, this world is so weird. Last time I fell in a hole I broke a leg and was wearing a cast for  _ weeks _ ,” Nick reminisced. “I still don’t wanna die though even if I can just come back.”

“Yeah, it was so weird dying. It felt like a magnet was pulling my body through space and then I woke up in my bed,” George said. Dream was silent, not wanting to participate in the conversation. 

He still had nightmares where he saw George’s body filled with arrows, or golden blood pouring from his eyes and mouth, filling a dark room with no end. Or George simply standing in front of him, not saying anything, just staring and watching with dulled eyes.

He was only calmed when he was able to see George, asleep in the bed next to his. These days, the nightmares lessened, but the subject was still one he didn’t want to talk about.

Even in this new life, he was afraid of death.

If he could truly become like a god, immortal, he would make sure to protect his friends so he’d never need to fear that nightmare again.

“—in your bed?”

“Yeah, it felt like there was a piece of me stuck to the bed and it was pulling me towards it,” George explained, making motions with his hands to try and demonstrate.

“Maybe when you were asleep you, like, left a bit of yourself in the bed,” Nick pondered, nearly walking into  _ another _ hole. 

“Watch where you’re going, sheesh,” Dream commented offhandedly. “We need to get some blaze rods to make the Ender eyes.”

“Blazes? Where do you find those?”

“The Nether.” Dream grimaced. He could just tell them that the Nether wasn’t safe and maybe they could turn back now. Maybe, just maybe—

“Dude that sounds awesome, let’s go!”

Of course.

~~~

Dream wasn’t eager to spend more time in the hellish dimension, but at his friends insistence he entered the purple portal once more.

“Woah,” Nick looked around in awe. “This is sick!”

“Let’s hurry and get the rods before one of us dies again.”

And so, they spent the next three hours searching for a Nether fortress. 

~~~

“—AHHHHHHHH WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!” Nick screamed. They all scattered as a fireball flew towards them, exploding on contact with the ground. A pale white ghost flew towards them, it’s horrifying, weeping face contorted as it prepared to spit another fireball their way.

“I DON’T KNOW! DREAM HEEEELLLPPP!” George yelled, just barely dodging the next fireball. “KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT—”

“AGGHHHH!” Dream summoned his sword as another fireball was sent in his direction. With a single swooping swing of the blade, he managed to send the fireball back towards the ghastly creature, killing it. “THAT’S WHAT YOU GET!”

“YEAH!” Nick shouted. They exchanged high-fives before getting their bearings and continuing on their search. 

It was gonna be a long journey.

~~~

“—wanna ride it! Please?” Dream begged his friends. He pointed to the little creatures walking on lava. “Look at it, it’s adorable!”

“Uhh I’m not sure about that Dream,” Nick said, a hint of disgust visible on his face. The striders, as Dream’s book called them, weren’t exactly the prettiest, but, they did have the advantage of being able to let the rider easily travel across lava.

With a bit of coaxing, the three of them each got onto a strider and were off.

“Woah! Slow down buddy!” Nick cried out, his strider zooming across the lava lake. “How do you steer this thing?”

His friends merely laughed as they tried to keep up with Nick’s strider.

~~~

“THERE IT IS!” George shouted, spotting the Nether fortress from his strider. The group cheered as they steered their striders over to the base of the intimidating structure.

Quickly, they started to dig into the side of the structure, using their pickaxes as if they were rock-climbing hooks. 

Scaling the structure, they finally entered the fortress.

“This is huge!” Dream exclaimed.

“Haha yeah that’s what she sa—AHHHHHH!” Nick began to say, before he spotted something behind his friends.

“Wha—”

A tall skeleton wielding a stone sword was running towards them, it’s bones blackened as if they had been burnt. Terrifying would be an understatement. 

“RUN!”

Together, they sped towards the inside of the fortress, George and Dream running ahead as Nick screamed for his life. 

“Did we lose it?” Dream asked, George panting next to him. Nick had somehow gotten separated from them.

“ _ Huff- _ Maybe- _ Huff _ \- We should go back for Nick?” George suggested, trying to catch his breath. 

Hesitantly, the pair retraced their steps, calling out for their friend.

Then, they hit a staircase which had been blocked off.

Looking at each other, they shrugged and decided to break down the barricade, assuming Nick had made it in his attempt to escape.

Screams rang through the air as soon as they had broken through. As they started to run in the opposite direction, they realized why it had been barricaded.

The skeleton was behind the blockage.

~~~

After ten minutes of running, the two had been reunited with their friend. Carefully, they explored the rest of the fortress, swords drawn and on high alert.

Dream turned a corner, only to turn back just as quickly. A fireball shot past.

“Well...I think we’ve found the blaze spawner.”

They had one hell of a time ahead of them.

~~~

_ Somehow _ Dream had ended up hanging onto a ledge by just his fingertips, a pool of lava below him. 

“—ICK, GEORGE STOP FIGHTING THE BLAZES AND HELP ME!” he yelled, struggling to hold on to the edge. 

“I’M TRYING NOT TO DIE OVER HERE!” Nick shouted back, dodging another fireball. George merely screamed as he ducked, barely avoiding being set on fire.

How had it turned out like this?

~~~

Tired and with more singed hairs than before, the trio emerged victorious from the fortress, blaze rods in hand. 

Now all they had to do was get some Enderpearls and find the stronghold.

Easier said than done.

~~~

“Oh my god what is  _ that _ ,” Nick asked, pointing to something in the distance. Some thin, black creature was holding a bunch of dirt in it’s gangly arms.

It turned towards them.

Purple eyes bore into Nick’s. Then, it opened its mouth, jaw unhinging like a snake, and let out a bone-chilling scream.

In a flash of purple it appeared right in front of them.

“WHAT THE HELL—”

The creature, almost twice as tall as George, swiped at Nick. 

He was knocked to the ground, gold pouring from the gash in his side.

Dream looked at his friend. Then at the gangly, purple-eyed creature.

And he was  _ livid. _

His sword was summoned to his side in a flash, and he grabbed it mid-air as he pounced at the creature.

_ Slice. Slice. Slice. _

The monster put up quite the fight, it’s thin arms surprisingly held a lot of strength in them, but Dream didn’t care. He could ignore the pain when he was fighting.

His black eyes met purple ones, and then they were gone.

_ Swoosh _

Behind him.

Twisting around, he swung his sword, making contact with the monster’s side.

With an ear-piercing scream that rivalled George’s, it died.

_ Whew _

“Nick are you okay?” George asked, tending to his friend. He handed him a piece of steak. Weakly, Nick accepted the food, eating it slowly whilst struggling to sit up. 

Soon, the wound closed and the bleeding stopped.

Dream sighed, glad his friend was okay but knowing that moment when Nick had been struck to the floor would haunt him for the rest of his life. He looked down.

“What’s that?” George asked.

A glassy, dark green orb sat on the grass.

“An Enderpearl.”

“Wait, so you’re telling me that was an Enderman?” Dream nodded.

Nick paled.

Finally, they had all fully realized what they were getting themselves into.

~~~

Silently, they set up camp, not wanting to talk about what had just transpired.

George quickly fell asleep, as usual. Dream and Nick, on the other hand, lay awake for much longer, staring up into the starry night.

“...It’s nice being able to see the stars for once, huh Cla—I mean Dream,” Nick said. 

“Yeah.”

“...Say, why did you decide to change your name to Dream?”

Huh?

“Ah well...I guess I just felt like it felt the new me better,” he answered awkwardly. He shifted to lay on his side.

“Huh...Well I guess that makes sense,” Nick mumbled. “Say, if I wanted to change my name, would that be weird orrrr—”

“Hm? You can change it if you want to I suppose. It’s your choice.” He shifted to laying on his back again.

“Then uhhh, how about Sapnap?”

“Sapnap?”

“Yeah it’s pandas backwards!”

“Uhh I think it’s actually panpas, Sapnap.”

“Oh,” he thought for a second. “Well it sounds better than Sadnap.”

Dream chuckled. “Yeah.”

A sweet silence hung between them for a while, before Sapnap spoke up again.

“Hey Dream, what’s it like not having a nose?”

“Wha—” Dream felt his face.

“You, uhhh, didn’t notice?”

“Well, I was probably too absorbed with trying to not die in the wild, yeah.” The chirp of grasshoppers filled the air, beckoning them to sleep.

“Man, everything is so weird now.”

“Yeah.”

“...”

“I’m glad I got to see you again.”

“Me too.”

“Goodnight Dream.

“G’Night Sapnap.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, next one is gonna be the last of this Act yeye
> 
> Was hoping to upload this yesterday when it was Christmas (for me) but I was busy haha


	9. Act I Scene VIIII: The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fun begins >:)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy :)

It had been a long, perilous journey, but somehow they had managed to get to the Stronghold alive. 

They’d swam across oceans, hiked through mountains, and stumbled through a desert. It was difficult, but they had made it, and now they were standing in front of a strange portal frame.

“So this is it then?” George asked, peering over the edge of the portal, looking into the pool of lava below it. Jokingly, Sapnap gave him a small shove.

“Yeah, now we just have to combine the blaze rods and the pearls right Dream?” Sapnap asked. George smacked the back of his head.

“—could’ve died idiot,” he grumbled, jumping to the floor. “So we’re ready to go then?”

Dream nodded slowly, crushing the rods into a fine powder. Truthfully, he was still wondering if he could convince them to go back, but knowing his friends, they wouldn’t accept that. They had gone through too much to just give up at the end.

Sighing, he decided to ignore the leaden feeling in his stomach, and combined the blaze powder with the pearls, creating twelve Eyes of Ender, as the book called them.

“Ohh, I want to put in some,” George and Sapnap said at the same time. They looked at each other. “ME FIRST!”

Dream stifled a laugh, handing each of his friends four eyes each.

“Let’s go then.”

~~~

The End was, as Dream had expected, quite the terrifying place. 

Great obsidian pillars topped with purple crystals towered over them, reaching towards an empty, dark sky.

Void, not unlike the one they had spent so much time in, surrounded the island on which they had been dropped. Sapnap dropped a piece of stone off the edge, just to see what would happen.

Everyone watched curiously as the stone fell about a hundred feet down, until it was suddenly ripped apart and turned to nothingness.

Oh, they definitely didn’t want to fall down there.

A deafening roar called their attention to the skies once more.

Souring on leather wings, blending into the void, was a dragon.

The one they’d come to kill.

~~~

Dream pulled out his bow and arrow, and began shooting at the purple crystals. They exploded upon impact, and as each arrow hit its mark, his friends would cheer.

He almost wanted to laugh. Perhaps all his worry had been for nothing.

Soon, all of the crystals were gone. The book had instructed that they destroy them before attacking the dragon, otherwise they would heal it.

Now, all they had to do was somehow defeat the beast.

They were truly reaching the end now.

~~~

Purple fire shot from the dragon’s mouth, lingering for a moment on the ground. All three dodged, moving away from the dragon which had come to rest above its nest of rock.

This fight was going to be much more difficult than they thought.

The dragon’s huge, leathery wings would occasionally hit one of them, sending them flying through the air. It was good that they had figured out how to use their new “powers” to summon a pool of water below them to catch them as they fell, otherwise they would’ve died at least twenty times each.

“—IT’S COMING DOWN!” Dream yelled, gripping his sword tight. He rushed in, his friends yelling in the back. George was being chased by Endermen and Sapnap was trying to save him.

Blindly, he dove underneath the dragon, and stabbed upwards.

His blade pierced the monster’s heart, and it let out a chilling wail as its body began to dissolve.

And then, in a purple flash, it was gone. All that was left was its egg, a prize for the victors, the slayers of a once god-like beast.

The Endermen had stopped chasing George. They became passive and scattered.

Dream handed his friends some food. Actually, he gave them all of it, as a way of saying sorry for not helping them fend off the Endermen. 

“Thanks Dream.” The quickly ate up the pieces of meat. Soon their wounds healed, and their bleeding came to a halt.

“So now what?” Sapnap asked, looking to his white and green friend. They walked over to the nest, which had become a portal. The egg stood on a small stone pillar in the center.

Dream’s stomach growled. He realized he’d need to eat something soon, as the pain from his wounds was becoming harder to ignore.

Well, well, well, lucky there was a big ole egg right there, right?

Sapnap and George watched as Dream took the egg in his hands, reaching over the portal to get it. 

“Is that its egg?” George asked.

“Yeah,” Dream replied, taking out his pickaxe. “And I’m gonna eat it.”

“...”

“Dude,  _ what? _ ” Sapnap stared at him in disbelief. “What if it’s poisonous or something.”

Dream looked up at his friend. A gold blush dusted his cheeks. 

“...I’m hungry though.” The egg split open, it’s thick, hard shell giving away to reveal a purple, green, and black substance inside.

Dream collected the insides into a bowl, and started a small cooking fire next to the portal. It took a while, but soon the egg was cooked. Hopefully cooking it would mitigate any harmful effects.

Dream really was hungry after all. Though, something other than hunger drove him to start eating the egg. A feeling that this was what he was supposed to do, or something like that.

George looked at him, a bit disgusted.

“Dream it smells awful.” 

The two other men stared at him, one still chewing purple and black egg bits.

Oh right, Dream didn’t have a nose.

“Haha, oops?”

Dream gulped down the rest of the egg. Something told him he had to, even if he did admit it tasted a bit weird. Maybe he just wanted to mock the dragon they’d killed by eating its child as well. Maybe he really was just hungry.

That wasn’t strange, was it?

No, it wasn’t strange. The bizarre feeling in his stomach was normal, probably just from the adrenaline or something like that. 

His breaths quickened, his chests rising and falling as he retched. Nothing came out.

His friends were saying something, what were they saying?

He saw in the corner of his eye, Sapnap threw the remains of the egg he’d eaten off the edge of the island.

Why would he do that? That was unnecessary. The egg hadn’t done anything to him.

His vision started to darken. Was George’s shirt always purple?

What was happening to him?

~~~

Dream was crouched on the ground, his head against the floor. Sapnap and George could only look on, worry etched into their faces, as their friend’s body shook, as if he was scared of something.

Sapnap had thrown the egg remains off the edge, not knowing what else to do. Dream had curled up into a ball after he’d eaten the egg, so just maybe if he got rid of it, his friend would be all right.

But throwing the broken pieces of shell into the void seemed to be useless.

George stood nearby, concerned and a bit scared, not wanting to get too close but still wanting to be of help somehow.

“Dream are you—”

**_SMACK_ **

Black wings sprung from Dream’s back, ripping through his green cloak and smacking George in the head.

Sapnap turned, rushed to George’s side. He was unconscious, knocked out by Dream.

“What the hell!” He took out his sword. He knew his friend would never do so on purpose, never would hurt his friends intentionally. However, something about him was changing, and Sapnap was prepared to fight back if Dream attacked.

He wasn’t prepared for what happened next though.

Loud screams, deep and torturous pierced the air. Sapnap hurriedly covered his ears, hoping George would be fine if he was unconscious. 

Just in case, he stuffed bits of cloth in both of their ears, grabbed George’s body, and ran. 

He was glad he was so much stronger in this new world. Sapnap just barely managed to get behind a pillar, carrying George over his shoulder. He hid, just in time, as another, even louder scream ripped out of his friend’s throat. It sent shockwaves through the air, tearing at the obsidian pillars and even cracking it.

What was he going to do?

~~~

Dream’s vision had gone entirely black now. His breaths were short, and he felt as though he was suffocating. 

Helpless, he tried to grab at his chest, at whatever was choking him.

His veins burned, as if his blood was being set alight. He felt dizzy. Oxygen no longer entered his lungs. 

Was he dying?

He tried to claw at his face, trying to figure out how to make the pain stop.

A rushing noise assaulted his eardrums, making the pain worse with each passing second.

Until it stopped and became quiet. 

He felt himself breathe again.

Slowly, he relaxed his tensed muscles.

And soon, his mind was calm, and he could focus on what was going on around him. Two voices, distant and yet so close at the same time, spoke in harsh tones.

“—at do we do?” asked one, its voice was metallic, ringing in Dream’s ear like a bell.

“Destroy him of course, don’t be stupid! He’s too much of a risk to us now,” said the other. This one’s voice was deep and booming, resembling an explosion or the sound of a gong.

What were they talking about? Dream was silent, listening in on their conversation. He felt he should try to keep his presence hidden for the time being.

“—risk the balance of the worlds being destroyed?” asked the first voice. 

“Then do you want to risk them finding us again?”

“No, but surely there is another way. Trap them perhaps? It is the same thing we did to the other—”

“And look what happened then! Chaus still managed—”

“Do not speak that name! Brother, you know it is forbidden now. You may as well have cursed us and opened the Aether’s gates.”

The Aether? It sounded familiar to Dream, but he could not figure out why. He did glean some information now though. Someone or something named Chaus was important, and he definitely needed to find out why.

“—sorry, then, should we simply revert this one’s form? It is not too late to—”

It was silent now. Dream was left alone in the void.

Then, the darkness split apart. 

Light flooded his vision, and suddenly he was looking up at a bright blue sky dotted with clouds. The rushing sound of wind filled his ears and the grass he was now laying on tickled him.

What had just happened?

~~~

Sapnap hid fearfully behind the pillar, George laying unconscious next to him.

The screaming had stopped now, and an eerie silence replaced it.

He looked out, back at the portal where he’d left Dream.

Surprisingly, his friend was simply laying on the ground, no wings in sight. Had it been some kind of hallucination then?

No, George was definitely knocked out, and his eardrums still throbbed.

So what was going on?

Apprehensively, Sapnap dragged George out from behind the pillar and approached the portal where Dream lay. He looked as though he was asleep.

“...Clay?” he said, his voice just barely above a whisper.

Then, his friend’s eyes snapped open. 

Sapnap backed up instinctively, shielding George with his body, sword already in hand.

He tried not to scream, he really did. 

But who wouldn’t scream when their friend’s eyes suddenly had purple pupils when before there were none? Who wouldn’t scream when the sky, dark and empty, split apart to reveal a dazzling blue light?

Who wouldn’t have grabbed their friends, and jumped through a mysterious portal—hoping it led to safety—when that blue light tried to strike them down?

Yeah, Sapnap had seen enough that day.

He was ready to go home.

~~~

“Oh dear, it seems they have escaped,” Dicio said, their blue hand retreated from the portal. They had opened it in an attempt to strike down the sinful man who’d consumed the Ender. How unfortunate that the little thing’s friend had helped them escape.

“Brother, I have told you, we should not interfere with the balance of the world,” the green person beside Dicio spoke.

“Opul, you know this will end badly.”

The green one shook their head. As they did, jewels fell from their shimmering hair.

“We need not worry brother, they do not possess what they need to challenge us. We made sure of that.”

Dicio was about to open a second portal, this time to Gaea, or Earth as the mortals called it, before stopping short.

“I suppose so,” they said, bringing a hand to their face. “Just in case, though, we should make sure to increase the security of the gates.”

“Do not worry, brother, everything will work out in our favor.”

“Mmm, I suppose you are right Opul.”

The two raised their hands up, summoning the power that resided within them, and a green and blue shimmer flowed out from them, surrounding their land. They would do whatever it took to secure their rightful place in the Universe.

They spoke in unison.

“After all, we are gods.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next arc, L'Manberg here we come :D
> 
> Dicio, according to google translate, means control in latin
> 
> Opul is from opulentia which is supposed to mean wealth in latin.
> 
> Also I'm thinking I might try and add a chapter 1 or 2 times a week, probably wednesday and sunday/saturday


	10. Act II Scene I: Cycle Begins Anew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapnap and Dream go for a swim

It had been two days since they'd returned home, and Dream still hadn't been able to get a wink of sleep. Under Sapnap’s insistence he had mostly remained in bed, but neither the warm covers nor the gentle snores of his friends nearby could lull him to sleep.

When had he become afraid to close his eyes? They’d become dry after he had held them open for so long. As if he were watching out for something, and resting his eyes would cause him to miss it for the split-second it was there. 

‘What’s wrong with me?’ Dream thought to himself, turning on his side. Not only could he not sleep, but his limbs felt awfully cold and heavy. Even when his friends had gone out of their way to make him extra blankets, he was still shivering. 

Cold, empty void. Is that all he was now? He groaned, turning again and subsequently fell out of bed when he saw his friend’s deep orange eyes staring at him.

“You okay Dream?” Sapnap asked, sitting up. He looked to the other bed, where George was. The other man still slept comfortably, blissfully unaware of what was going on.

“I’m...yeah I’m fine.” Dream thought it was better to lie. How could he explain the feeling of dread that gnawed at him, emptying him of emotion and robbing him of sleep?

“Well, uhhh,” the two looked at each other awkwardly. “Wanna go for a swim?”

“What?” The odd question snapped Dream out of his weary state. “At night?”

“Yeah, going for a swim helps you know?” Having made up his mind it seemed, Sapnap jumped up and pulled his friend off the floor. Quickly he led Dream to the lake. The same one where they’d both been reborn. A special place that connected them.

Not hesitating, Sapnap jumped right into the cold water, ripples pushing out on all sides, disturbing the once-perfect reflection of the clear night above.

“Come on Dream!” Sapnap exclaimed, splashing about giddily. 

Dream rolled his eyes, but obliged and stepped into the water. 

The two of them hung out, a sweet silence surrounding them. No crickets chirped and the forest around them was silent. Eerie, but somehow, Dream didn't feel the least bit scared despite being so vulnerable at the moment.

“...This place is pretty weird, huh?” Sapnap spoke up, breaking the quiet. 

“Didn’t you already ask that before?” Dream floated on his back now. “But yeah, it is pretty odd.”

Silence. The moon looked down at him, it’s bright face peering at his. Mysterious and beautiful, it hung in the sky like a dazzling eye. At least its rocky white surface had not changed, unlike everything on Earth. The moon still was there, to watch over them.

Nothing more was said between the two, until a shrill screech pierced the air. Dream looked towards his friend.

“Uhh sorry ‘bout that Dream,” golden blood rushed to his cheeks as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “I felt something touch my foot.”

A chuckle escaped from pale lips. Then, it turned to laughter, until Dream was struggling to breathe as he wheezed, trying not to fall backwards into the water as he made for the shore.

“—thought something attacked— _ wheeze _ —you—HAHA!” He collapsed on the sand, laughing up at the dark sky. Sapnap soon joined him, chuckling as well. 

Eventually, they calmed down, and returned to simply sitting next to each other on the sand.

“Would be nice to have a pool or something, huh,” Sapnap commented. “Then we wouldn’t have to worry about the water being nasty or whatever.”

“Yeah, but we can’t exactly build a pool ourselves.” Dream turned a blade of grass between his fingers. Something to occupy his hands, so they wouldn’t feel so empty.

“Well maybe we can bring back someone who can!” Sapnap replied. “Then we can build a really cool house or maybe even a city and—Oh we could start a fried chicken restaurant!” 

Dream laughed again. Where did Sapnap get such crazy ideas?

Hm, but maybe they weren’t so crazy after all.

He was happy to just have his friends back, even in this strange new world, but what if they could have even more? He had to admit that he missed some of the things of the past. He missed his home, his cat, his family, his games. So many amazing things had been lost on the day the world had ended.

But maybe he could bring them back.

Just maybe, he could recreate the world in its all its former glory, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of its predecessor. No, he could make it even better! 

Purge the world of its flaws and start anew.

A cycle of destruction and creation, directed by the hands of the gods.

And maybe, Dream could become one as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!! Sorry this wasn't out yesterday but don't worry I've been busy getting ready for this next arc yeye
> 
> I'm also working on some cool stuff for the au outside of writing it so look forward to that (so I feel obligated to deliver on it lol)


	11. Act II Scene II: Ambition and Exploration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two new players have joined the game!

He still hadn’t gotten any sleep five days after he and his friends had travelled to the End. But now, it was of his own choice, rather than the result of some odd instinct. No, Dream was willing to sacrifice his sleep and his sanity for this.

A night had been spent in the Nether. It brought back bad memories but it was necessary for what he wanted to do. Climbing up to the Nether’s roof, he carefully collected the glowstone that hung in clumps from it. 

Another night had been spent hunting. He created nets using string from the giant spiders he encountered (although they were terrifying) and he managed to capture a variety of creatures. 

Soon he had all he needed to execute his plan. 

His plan to resurrect the old world.

He hadn’t told his friends of it. No, they wouldn’t understand. Maybe they would agree with him, but they would never be able to understand the burning desire in his heart.

Dream wanted to know more about this strange, new world. To explore it, to conquer it, to make it his. And to do that, he would need allies. Ones who would follow his commands willingly and faithfully. If all went well, their lives would become like those of kings. They would live freely and without restrictions or worry. 

He looked around the small room. His friends were fast asleep. 

They wouldn’t notice him leaving.

It was better this way. They wouldn’t let him leave during the day, still worried about his health. In fact, he’d noticed Sapnap looking at him strangely a few times. As if there was something he wanted to say, but couldn’t.

Dream snuck out of the cabin. It hurt to be going behind his friends’ backs but they wouldn’t understand. He needed this. For them.

Soon he reached the river. Even though it was dark and cold, he felt so warm inside here. It was the place where he’d been reunited with George after all.

Smiling, he went to the village where he’d put the animals he’d caught.

He’d only resurrect two people this time. The more people he brought back at the same time, the more difficult it would be to manage. They would need to be taught about this new world, and he would need to become close to them for his plan to work.

Carefully, he led two animals back to the river. A brown foal and a calf. Perhaps he should feel guilty taking some poor animals’ children from them, but he knew it was for a good cause. Wasn’t that right? He was doing the right thing. Of course he was.

Having arrived at the river, he took a moment to relish the cool, sweet evening breeze. The moon shone brightly this night, and it seemed to be praising him. 

But the most beautiful sight on this evening was not the calm meadows nor the mysterious night.

No, it was the thousands of souls, hanging in the air like lanterns. 

Dream reached out towards one, mesmerized by their shining, kaleidoscope-like appearance. Before, he’d only been able to see vague colors and shapes, but now each soul’s outline was as clear and sharp as crystal. 

He smiled. This was it.

His beautiful dream was about to become reality.

~~~

Glowstone mixed with water, turn to golden blood.

Flesh of beast and petals of flowers, become skin and cloth.

Souls, dancing in the night sky, become one and form a new man.

Dream grinned, eyes opened wide, anticipating the rewards of his labor. A shimmer, a red and black flash of light, and suddenly there was another person there with him.

“Huh? Hello?” the newborn spoke, looking around. “Who’re you?”

Dream extended his hand. “Hey, I’m Dream.”

The new person looked at his hand, then towards the foal and bottles of glowstone. It was certainly a strange place to wake up in.

“You don’t have to tell me your old name,” Dream offered, arm still extended. “I get it, since you don’t know me.”

The other man seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then, he grasped Dream’s hand with his own.

“Call me Ponk, then.”

Dream grinned. “Nice to meet ya, Ponk.”

~~~

Ponk stood and watched as Dream mixed the glowstone with water and poured it on the ground. How curious! He’d never thought he’d get to witness magic with his own two eyes.

He tugged at the red scarf around his neck. It was a bit cold, but the weird green and white man didn’t seem bothered.

“So, how’d you do it?”

“Hmm?” Dream hummed as he carried the foal into the circle he’d made. “Like this.”

Ponk watched, incredulous, as the other man stepped out of the circle, and suddenly it seemed as if a star had appeared.

Brown and yellow mixed together, until a person appeared, landing on the ground with a soft plop.

“Hey there,” Dream said, offering his hand to the new person. “How’re you feeling?”

“Oh? Where am I?” said the new person, taking the other man’s hand and standing.

The other man grinned.

“Your new life.”

~~~

Dream was satisfied with the results of his plan. Two new people were born into the world, and it seemed he had made the right choice in who to resurrect.

Ponk, a dark skinned man wearing black and white clothes and a red scarf, was his chosen scientist. His soul had shone brightly, in a way that Dream felt showed his undying thirst for discovery and experimentation. The perfect person to help him learn about and dissect all the wonders of this new world.

The second person, wearing a yellow sweater and beanie, introduced himself as Wilbur. There was a blue and yellow tint to his soul, and an aura of ambition. Someone who would willingly stand with him to conquer the world.

Yes, Dream had surely made the right decision in selecting these two as his allies.

Now, his plan was truly ready to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi there! I've been quite busy now that school is starting again, but now I finally have time to write!
> 
> Not sure if the next chapter will be finished before the end of next week, but I'll try!


	12. Author's Note

Hello there! 

This is a bit awkward but I’m going to discontinue this fic indefinitely. Basically I lost all interest in mcyt and dsmp so I feel like I should lay this au to rest haha

I’d feel bad if I just left it as is though, since I thought a lot about this au and what I wanted to do with this fic. Even though this main fic is way less popular than my other related fics (which are all in the “god’s playground - extras” collection btw), I wanted to officially end it anyways, so that anyone who does happen to like it won’t feel too disappointed.

In the next few chapters I’ll be putting the general info and ideas for the au which explains the fic world. I’ll also put in some of the chapters I wrote but never got to publish and the (broken) timeline of events that were planned. 

That includes what I planned to be the final chapter, since I’d be sad if nobody ever got to see it lol

Feel free to use any ideas or even rewrite the story in this au. I don’t care, and I won’t go after you if you don’t ask or whatever, but credit where credit’s due is always nice. There's pretty much no chance of me continuing this fic, so if you want, you could even rewrite it lol.

So let’s get on with it, yeah?


	13. General Info about GP

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some info on the AU, hope you enjoy! 
> 
> It explains the universe and how it works, next chapter is the actual plot.

The story begins with the ends of time. The world suddenly ends on January 5th, 2021 (no special reason for that date lol), due to a fight between the 3 aethers who are introduced in chapter 9 of this fic.

Everyone on Earth dies, and due to the fight between the aethers, the world and its structure is changed drastically. Many animals died, and only some managed to survive. Basically screwed over the environment.

Dream (Clay) dies and becomes a senseless soul floating through the void (something I love to point out haha), but is attracted to a feeling that felt like “life” (whatever that means).

This is actually glowstone, which in this au is the equivalant to life essence or something like that, and it is necessary to bring people to life.

The 3 ingredients are something alive, water (why Dream felt like swimming in the first chapter), and glowstone. The water and glowstone form the blood, which is gold like ichor (the blood of gods in some myths). Technically there is actually 4, but that will be explained in a bit.

The amount of glowstone in your blood determines how powerful you are. 

Speaking of power, here’s a little guide to magic in the au

Ender - what Dream uses (gained by eating the egg of the ender dragon), can be used offensively to strengthen him and his attacks, can make him temporarily immune to attacks (at a high cost), can let him fly and teleport for short distances/time, allows him to forcefully break apart souls and amplifies his creation (crafting) abilities to allow him to make things from the souls > basically creative mode. The principle of the Ender is chaos and freedom. Therefore this magic allows the user to live freely by protecting them and allowing them to literally do whatever. They can escape danger, create whatever they want, and influence others' souls. The drawback is that it uses up a lot of power so the user needs to consume souls very often if they use the ability and Dream is against that. Plus, using the power too often may make the aether sus of him

~~~~~~~~~~~

Aether - pretty much the same to Ender, just with a different name. Opul's is more about the physical, as their Aether power allows them to create magnificient structures and jewels, at the expense of souls. Dicio's gives them physical power and control over others, they have a very strong ability of manipulation. Almost nobody can disobey them. Dicio and Opul are weaker than Chaus but mainly because they like to pretend they are better by securing their positions by only using "willing" souls, while Chaus uses force, but inevitably Chaus is slightly more powerful because they are willing to do anything.

Chaus knows that Dicio and Opul are just as bad as they are, they just pretend not to be. Two sides of the same coin, yeah?

~~~~~~~~~~~

Potions - Potions are a unique form of magic exclusive to the nether. Soul sand is made from "broken" souls, which essentially don't have a person in them anymore. Nether wart, which grows in soul sand, sucks out the bits of soul and turns them into a usable "pure" form. Dream cannot use soul sand to create things, because the souls in it are broken and weak + nether wart doesn't contain enough soul in it to be used either, without being incredibly inefficient. Nether wart is brewed in a brewing stand. These are powered by blaze powder which is literally just straight up pure energy in a non-usable form. (also why it is needed to open the end, because the blaze powder powers up the pearls and activates the portal) > blaze powder is also used for strength pots because it is a literal power-up.

Various ingredients are used to make potions from there, as pretty much all potion ingredients happen to come from some form of life (or the nether) and therefore have some sort of magic/life energy infused in them.

glowstone can be used to power up potions, considering that glowstone is used to make people and stuff.

~~~~~~~~~~

Glowstone/players - Players all have the same basic kind of magic. Glowstone is limited in its usage but it is pretty potent.

Each player is made of many souls. These souls become connected and the main one is in control. Their souls "mix" with the glowstone to create their unique bloodtype.

Each player has access to an inventory, which is a sort of pocket-dimension type thing that holds a limited amount of stuff and can be only accessed by that person (because of unique glowstone blood thing) > shulkers are the separated inventories of players, by the Ender. This is a passive magic so it can be used at any time, but also breaks when the person dies (why players drop their inventories when dead) > actually, the pocket-dimension is a space between Earth and the Aether dimension (more on that later)

Each player is also much stronger, due to their soul-body thing.

Glowstone is what really makes them strong though > glowstone is constant, you can't add more or transfer it due to the unique blood thing which is a process that happens when the player is formed. Glowstone is activated when players consume food > cellular respiration basically > energy consumed by glowstone make them strong. > because of that they can drown btw

~~~~~~~~~~

EXP - experience is basically the life bits of animals/mobs/anything really. Players can collect it but can't absorb it. It is like a milder version of Dream/Opul's creation ability because the exp can be used to fix and enhance tools and armor, but can't be used for creation due to it's impure form. You also need a lot just to enhance/fix your stuff, and it increases the better your stuff is.

You can actually bottle the exp for later, but nobody really knows how.

~~~~~~~~~~

villagers - not really magic, but essentially, villagers are made from soul fragments and are basically just normal mobs but they can trade because someone before taught them how to do so. They might be from the Aether realm/sort of like Opul's kids in a way idk. They really like emeralds which are green like Opul so perhaps that actually makes sense lol

~~~~~~~~~~

Crafting - it isn’t a special ability per se but it is basically them borrowing the knowledge of the souls in and around them.

On that note, let’s talk about the souls since they are so prominent in the story.

Think of the souls like clay (no pun intended), they can be molded to make items but it takes skill and energy to do that. Dream can mold the souls because of the Ender powers he gained. After he consumed the Ender he was able to clearly see souls and even what kind of person they were when they were alive.

Over the thousands of years since Earth was destroyed, some of the souls were ‘broken’. I was planning to use this to explain why Sapnap didn’t immediately recognize Dream even though George could. The other explanation was that Sapnap was much farther away and thus they had to call him over from further away while George was headed over to Dream’s place in the story (i think it was mentioned in the first chapter). The other characters in that case would have been in Florida for one reason or another in that case. The last explanation is simply because George and Dream weren’t thinking about him that much lol.

To add on to that, George and Sapnap were able to become the main souls in their bodies because they were specifically “called” > you can only call the souls of people you know well though, so you can’t resurrect some random person you met once lol. Ponk and Wilbur were chosen by Dream, so they were able to become their main souls.

Later, Wilbur would request Dream to bring back his family, however only Tommy could be found. Fundy is indeed Wilbur’s child but his soul was broken and so it became merged with someone else’s soul.

Anyways, the souls make up the body instead of flesh. The flesh is what determines the appearance > that’s why Dream had a white body and leaves coming from his back. He was made using lilies of the valley (because they are kind of blob-like lol)

Because people are made of souls, they are much stronger than normal. Not sure if they have bones though. They at least have a heart, lungs, and a stomach but I didn’t think about it too much.

Digestion is similar to real life. Their bodies directly take the fibers from what they eat to patch up their wounds. Otherwise it turns it all into energy like in cellular respiration. They need oxygen to do that which is why they have lungs. Eating is necessary to replenish strength > while glowstone determines how strong they Can be, the amount of energy via food which activates the glowstone ability determines how much of that they can use. Dream of course eats enchanted gapples because of this, since it is the best food and brings out his strength the most.

Also because everything has different blood types, instead of the exp being absorbed into the player and strengthening them, it goes into a kind of sac (?) And can be used externally, like for enchanting or fixing tools. Sort of like how Dream can use the souls to create items from thin air, but on a less extreme level

All players are attracted to water naturally. The water in their blood cells out for it. Tommy drowning himself may have something to do with that?

Anyways, the glowstone powers the souls > also because of the whole unique blood thing I mentioned earlier, the souls that make up the body are connected. They will reform to the place where the person was last unconscious > in one of the chapters George respawned in his bed instead of by the river where he was first resurrected. When players are asleep, they leave a bit of themselves in the bed and go into a kinda spiritual state I guess? Think of it as a brief return to the void and the bit of soul in the bed is like an anchor to the real world.

However, each time a player dies, the bonds between the souls break a bit more, and it cannot be repaired. This is partially because of the unique blood thing from before.

When they die, they leave behind some life energy (the glowstone basically in a converted usable form) and the rest returns to their body.

Animals and mobs drop exp for similar reason, because they actually have little life bits in them. Some of it is stored in their meat though so when you eat something it helps you heal.

So eventually, the bonds are broken and the body cannot be formed anymore, though originally it was when they ran out of blood. Dream after he consumed the Ender cannot be killed because his power changed his body.

After consuming the Ender, Dream became one with Chaus (latin for chaos according to google translate) and gained his powers. Because of that his body is much tougher and he can respawn more than the others. Or rather he won’t die as much so there’s no need to?

Anyways, the Ender is weak to glowstone because Ender and Aether are like opposites.

With that, let’s talk about the three dimensions!

~~~~

Aether - essentially something like heaven. Created by Dicio and Opul, aka power and wealth, it is their paradise. They chose souls which would be obedient to them to come with them and to serve them. Their powers come from their followers (yes that could be taken as a political statement)

(side note, I thought it would be funny if Techno ended up eating Opul to death cuz eat the rich amirite?)

In chapter 9 they locked up the Aether even more securely because Dream ate the Ender.

In the end, even though those two boast about their powers and shiz, they still are scaredy cats huh? They didn’t want a single rebellious person within a 50 mile radius of them huh

That brings us to the Nether aka techno’s backstory

The nether is hell essentially. Anyone declared ‘bad’ is put here. The souls of the damned, evil, and broken reside in this hellscape. 

Techno was sent here along with a bunch of other people. Here he stayed for thousands of years until he found a nether portal (he didn’t know about them before) and was able to leave. (more details in next chapter)

After the world ended and the souls were being sorted to either stay on Earth or the Aether, some people like Techno hated the idea of those so-called gods deciding their fate.

As punishment, Opul cast them into the Nether as pig-people. The pig part because it is like an insult to them, and because they were often people who were worked hard and used. The reason being to remind them that they were simply pigs raised for slaughter.

Actually, a lot of them were soldiers from the war > not any war that happened irl but one I made up for the sake of the story. Techno was drafted into this war at 16 in Phil’s place. He didn’t know this until later, but one man from every house had to participate in the war essentially (like mulan ig?) but Phil wanted to protect wilbur (13yrs old at the time) and tommy who was 2-3 yrs old, so he let the officers take techno instead.

However, Techno was partially spared because Phil begged Opul to let him keep his mind instead of becoming a brainless pig-man. Thus he is only half-pig and can change his appearance to be more human for a brief amount of time. However, the piglins hate him because of this so he had to live on his own for thousands of years.

Also, the piglins have a love of gold, which may be because opul cursed them to love wealth since it would be like loving them (b/c they refused to submit n all) > Techno legit had a stream about getting rich so I’d say it fits lol

By the way, piglins happen to hate wither skeletons (its actually a thing in the game) and in the au this is because many of the piglin are from anarchists basically and wither skeletons were previously powerful, corrupt people. They literally suck the life out of people.

The withers are essentially the epitome of human greed and evil in a way, and Techno decides to use them like they used him.

Anyways, last is the Ender. 

The Ender is a prison for Chaus. Chaus wanted freedom, to be free is to be happy, they thought. But they became bored with freedom, and wanted more. They wanted to do something more. But harmony and peace is boring to Chaus. They don't want that. They want action, and they want to influence the world, for better or worse. They don't want a boring world so they dedicated themselves to chaos.

However, chaos is not something Dicio and Opul wanted. Chaos means that they cannot securely keep their positions of wealth and power. So they banished Chaus to the End.

And the reason why they started the apocalypse is to shove chaus away but it resulted in the destruction of the world. Dicio and Opul didn't care though, and instead used it as an opportunity to gain more power. They took in the most obedient souls and used them for power source. They consume the soul parts to empower themselves.

Imprisoned in the End, chaus creates endermen out of the players who dared to enter their domain. They trapped others to free themselves. The Endermen stole parts of Earth so Chaus could gain a glimpse of what it was like before they were trapped in the End.

It was only with their death that they could be freed.

Earth is Earth. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next is the plot!


	14. Plot of GP

Basically the storyline which will require the info from the previous chapter to understand and explains things a bit more in detail. 

So after the world ended, Dream (Clay) floated in the void for a really long time. He has a weird sort of relationship to the void because of that, which is something that I constantly like to point out. 

He figures out the world. Monsters attack him, he gets tools, and eventually finds a mysterious book (wow how convenient).

This book informs him of the world, kind of like a tutorial.

Actually, I planned on making a side fic of the book. It was written by someone named Frankie. She was also a player a long time ago and she was a scientist in the past. She experimented and found out that food will heal wounds as long as one is still barely just alive and can eat. She and her friends ended up going to the End but only she managed to escape with her life. She found a way to escape the end without killing the ender dragon. She ended up running because she was basically marked down by the aether and ender for what she did. 

The reason Dream and co could beat the dragon is because they had higher glowstone density. Perhaps Frankie collected a bunch of glowstone before she died and it ended up being used to create Dream.

So Dream, Sapnap, and George head to the End, and kill the dragon. Then Dream idiotically eats the egg. 

He eats it, gains powers, the aethers try to kill him, they escape

Now, because Dream ate the egg, he was put under the influence of Chaus. Chaus wants to subjugate others basically. Be the one on top so nobody else can imprison them ever again. However, Chaus is not fully in control yet. They are merely a whisper in the wind at this point in the story.

So Wilbur and Ponk join. Dream gives Frankie’s journal to Ponk and he and Wilbur begin to plan to rebuild society.

I’m not too familiar with what happens in the actual smp but anyways…

Wilbur asks Dream to resurrect his family, but only Tommy and Fundy could be reborn.

Tommy requests for Tubbo.

Oh, and Tubbo was orphaned because of the war and Tommy asked Phil to take him in (and thats why techno hates orphans jk)

Tommy discovers that “music” has been preserved in the new world and starts collecting discs because of the sentimental importance of music to him > his older brothers (though he only knows of Wilbur doing music, since Techno left) were musicians and music helped him during the tough times of the pre-apocalypse war.

Sapnap leaves because he feels uncomfortable living with the new dream.

Ponk is interested in this new world as he has some “mad scientist” in him (reason being a scientist wouldn’t be accepted into the Aether due to their dedication to science rather than loyalty and their experimental nature and thirst for knowledge would be undesirable for the Aether) > Ponk decides to try and recreate lemons due to the lack of biodiversity in the new world.

Ponk pranked Sapnap with some new thing he’d been creating > Sapnap gets mad and decides to burn down Ponk’s lemon tree creation.

Both are sort of petty, will-act-if-aggroed characters so they obviously escalate into a conflict.

In the early stages of the “SMP”, there is little to no respect for rules or stability/peace. Dream wants peace, but the influence of Chaus changes his motives as time goes on. 

BTW I was planning on having a lord of the flies analogy in there somewhere but never got the opportunity to mention it. Since they are a bunch of people thrown on an island with no agreement or ability to work together and eventually they will fall into chaos. Everything falls to chaos eventually, it is the end and beginning of all. Also Techno is a pig and in his entrance he has the head of a pig but changes it to be human when reuniting with his brothers.

Tommy is a primary example of “chaos” in the world > doing whatever he wants, generally acting like a kid in a toy store where he can buy whatever he wants. 

So basically, Sapnap got mad at Ponk. Then they start to fight and eventually Sapnap comes out on top (symbolizing the loss of logic, also relevant to LOTF with the death of piggy and loss of reason) > and Dream appears, trying to stop the fighting (Chaus is not as influential at this point) > but Tommy and (maybe) sapnap decide to attack him, motivated by their win and combined hot-headedness. 

Dream becomes angry and steals Tommy’s discs, knowing they are important to him

So then Tommy tried to get them back, because they held so much emotional value to him. Dream wanted Tommy’s netherite chestplate in return because he wants the “strong” stuff > basically because he doesn’t want anyone to be more powerful than him and end up locking him up (Chaus’ influence > the whole ender thing)

They tried to negotiate but it didn’t end up going well > Dream ended up teleporting away and Tommy simply didn’t give up the chestplate

Tommy and Tubbo try to find the discs but can’t and desperate, they beg Dream to renegotiate and it goes well, but Tommy knows he needs to keep his discs safe (security)

So then, Tommy and Tubbo sneak into Ponk’s old lab which he was in the process of moving out of and was currently away to try and find a way to get the discs back/keep them safe > Find some papers (possibly from Frankie’s books) and learn about ender chests > Dream already knows about ender chests > they are like an extension of the inventory, only accessible via “soul” connection to another “inventory” that “teleports” the items to whichever chest the person opens.

So Tommy creates one hurriedly, trying to negotiate with others and collect it himself > eventually he gets it.

[stuff happens]

Dream kills himself, standing on the rails, realizing how badly Chaus is affecting him and Tommy runs over him.

Not sure what is supposed to happen after this, but inventories don’t drop their items when killed in this au.

Anyways, then Wilbur and Tommy go to the nether and figure out how to make potions and try to use them to become powerful essentially. (this is the drug plot of the dsmp lol)

Dream doesn’t like that, because Chaus’ influence makes him want to be more powerful and he fears being taken down and imprisoned. Everyone must work under him, must be loyal to him, must be weaker than him.

This turns to war as Wilbur and Tommy don’t want to be under his rule.

In the old world, the two of them grew up during the war which Techno fought in. Because of that, they essentially lived through a ton of propaganda and were influenced to want ‘glory’ and ‘power’ or something like that. Of course, Techno doesn’t think that way since he lived through the war.

~~~~King’s time scene

Dream looked to his friend, sitting next to him atop a hill. His friend, his first friend in this wonderful new world.

Yes, Dream loved this new world and all of the amazing things it had to offer. 

New people, a new start. Another chance to live and to become something  _ more _ .

“George, isn’t it beautiful?” The sun was beginning to set over this new world.

Over his new playground.

George shrugged. “I guess. It looks the same way it always has.”

Dream laughed. The sound was not filled with joy, but was instead demented. Everything was green and gold for him now.

A flash of purple in empty eyes.

“George, kings’ time as rulers rises and falls like the sun,” he said softly, excitement ringing in his voice. “Like the tides, empires come and go.”

George looked towards the horizon. Hands clasped together and eyes glassy. A rustle came from behind them.

“And one day, George, my time as king will rise, with you.”

Yes, this was his world to rule over. Nothing could stop him. Not man, not beast.

Not even the gods. 

~~~~

So after they separate stuff happens. 

Then, when Tommy and Wilbur go to the Nether at some point, Techno sees them. He desperately tries to follow them and ends up going through the nether portal. 

Oh and btw  Techno gets his name "the blade" because of his fearsome reputation as a soldier, but it is also a double meaning because he was used as the blade for his country and tossed out when he was of no use.

So then Schlatt happens I guess and oops there’s another war now lol

At some point Techno would talk to either Dream or Tommy about the lord of the flies thing. 

I also thought it would be cool if Techno kept his human appearance up around others but when he is agitated you can see a shadow of his pig face returning in a way?

At this point Dream is fairly obsessed with power. He ends up destroying all End portals because he realizes they are too dangerous and because of Chaus’ trauma of being locked up there. 

Things from here on out generally turn out the same as in the dsmp. Since I don’t know the story that well I can’t do much about the details, sorry.

Ponk works for Dream in exchange for power (though chaus would be disgusted by that thought). Dream gives him some of his blood which Ponk drinks and that gives him a small amount of Ender powers. Since the wiki mentioned Ponk might be a dreamon, I thought this made sense.

~~~Ponk becomes a dreamon scene

"Ponk, I need to ask something of you."

"Hmm? And what can I get in return?"

"Power. Enough to satisfy whatever questions about the world your heart may have."

"..."

Black blood flowed from the wound Dream had made in his arm. It quickly filled the small cup the man had materialized from thin air.

Ponk was quite mesmerized by the sight. He stared in silent fascination as the wound in the other man's arm healed, leaving not a single trace.

He reached for the cup.

"Wait, Ponk." Dream spoke up, holding the cup close to him. "Let me ask you something first."

Ponk looked at him, stared directly into Dream's dark, empty eyes, trying to interpret his intentions.

"Yes?" He had to be cautious.

"What would you do for science?"

He let out a small chuckle.

"For science?"

A nod.

"Anything."

~~~

Reason dream doesn't care about anything anymore is because he is corrupted the by the ender and the ender basically takes things from others (ender men are created by players who have had part of themselves taken from them, thus making the like that, and the dragon is holding it over them to get them to obey her)

Similarly, dream is holding Tommy's discs as they give him power over him

He has also realized that because he can so easily hold things like that over other people, so too, can they hold things over him. Thus he has decided to rid himself of any attachments to this mortal realm.

This results in the very dramatic scene where Sapnap tells George that Dream doesn’t care about them. 

In the au I was thinking that Sapnap would feel inferior since he was created long after George and all. Plus in the King’s time scene he was standing behind them and basically got ignored.

Also, I wrote that Sapnap was made from fire because his character’s shirt has a little fire symbol and I think at some point he burns some stuff down (not the lemon tree, something else) and its relevant to the plot?

Anyways, the war ends, the withers are killed (since they are symbols of tyrants, that could have a good deal of symbolism in it considering Techno’s speech about being anti-government and all), and Wilbur died. 

Philza was living in the Aether. This is because Opul took a liking to him. In the old world, he told his ‘sons’ about the story of the aethers.

~~~story of the aethers

Three children in ancient times lived together alone in a small home. They considered each other family.

One day they stumbled upon three eggs. A blue egg, a green egg, and a purple egg. Each one took an egg and they had a delicious meal.

But at night, a bird flew into their small home and demanded to know why the children ate the bird’s eggs.

The children, scared, told the bird they were hungry and poor. They had been abandoned and were powerless. If they wanted to eat they had to work long hours doing hard labor, only to get enough to afford a small piece of bread.

The bird took pity on them. It told them that they would have their wishes granted.

The child who ate the blue egg wished for power. They wanted to rule over others so that they could make the world better and more peaceful. Then no other children would become like them.

The child who ate the green egg wanted riches. They wanted money so they would never starve again.

The child who ate the purple egg wanted freedom. They wanted to be able to freely play with the other two, and be able to have all the fun in the world.

Thus, they manifested powers which gave them these things. The one who ate the blue egg was very charismatic and wise. Others listened to them and did what they said. This child became the emperor of a great empire and was known as Dicio.

The one who ate the green egg became the richest person in all the world. There was no limit to the gold and jewels they possessed. With this money, they helped Dicio to retain power. In return, Dicio protected their wealth. Together they worked well and became the most powerful ever. This one became known as Opul. A beautiful person who could get anything they wanted.

But there was one thing they couldn’t truly attain with riches. 

Even with their wealth and power, they were tied down to their roles in society. They could not move for fear that they might fall.

The one who ate the purple egg, Chaus, could fly to anywhere on Earth. They were welcomed wherever they went, and could do whatever they wanted. They held no responsibility. Under them, many others wanted freedom. They wanted to be free, but they couldn’t when they had to live under Dicio’s rule and had their money siphoned away by Opul’s greed.

Thus, Dicio and Opul captured Chaus and locked them away. Only they were allowed freedom and fun.

Chaus became enraged by this, and when the time would come, that purple-eyed child would destroy all the wealth and power held by people. They would make the world free once more.

~~~~

So since Dream is influenced by Chaus, he also has some of that trauma of being locked up as well. This is why he hates iron doors in the au btw.

Anyways, because Phil told the story of the aethers to his kids, Opul favored him and basically kept him like a pet (hence the green clothes). Also, they were able to keep him in check by threatening his kids.

But once Wilbur decides to blow up everything, Phil falls to Earth. The wings the aether gifted him turned black, and he failed to save his son a second time.

Phil only has one life because his body was made by the Aether. Techno might also have one life but who knows? He never died lol.

Tommy gets banished, Dream is trying to protect what he cares about but ends up losing it all because Chaus’ influence makes him like  _ that _

Techno decides to retire.

Things happen. The compasses that Wilbur gives to Tommy and Tubbo work because a portion of the soul of the other is on each one so it automatically pulls towards them. 

Wilbur is a ghost, I don’t know how that works in the au but frankly I’m not going to think too hard about it. Perhaps people always became ghosts but it is only because Wilbur was reborn that he could become a ghost and not any of the other souls that are floating around could.

Anyways, when Dream blows up Tommy’s banishment home, Tommy sort of sees Wilbur blowing up L’Manberg for a bit. That’s how he realizes Dream is sort of insane lol.

Oh, and Dream can also manipulate the souls around him, using them to create items or to do his bidding. That’s how he gets gapples.

At some point he cuts off his right arm and uses it to create Ranboo. Dream’s blood is black now, as it took over the glowstone in his blood. Ranboo is highly susceptible to being manipulated by Dream because of this.

Dream’s right arm reforms as completely black. Before, Ponk showed him by cutting off his own finger and having it regrow.

Stuff happens and Ranboo and Techno become friends (?)

Philza ‘favors’ Techno because he feels guilty for abandoning him in the old world.

At some point Techno and Ranboo need to escape from somewhere but only Ranboo can teleport so Ranboo shoves Techno inside his inventory so they can escape together.

Techno is in an entirely dark area filled with Ranboo’s items. There’s a small light though and he goes over and finds a ‘hole’ in the dark walls of the ‘inventory’. Then he spots Opul and gets super mad because Opul is the one who made him into a pig-man.

Meanwhile, the Aethers are getting scared of the dsmp players and send the egg down which is full of corrupted nether energy to attack them.

Somehow Dream is captured and imprisoned. Techno informs him of the egg which is starting to corrupt his friends.

Dream is somehow executed despite his overwhelming power.

Then, Dream has a revelation and decides to help the players who have decided they must fight the aether (they were informed of them by phil and maybe techno).

I wrote a bit about that but I don’t really like it but here it is anyways

~~~I do care scene

How stupid. How foolish and ignorant and dumb. Dream was perplexed by the fact that he had been killed and put to rest a second time.

Now he floated in empty void, the same color as his blood and his right arm and his eyes. Or at least, what they used to be.

He’d been humiliated, struck down, and insulted. Mocking laughter had filled his ears as he’d closed his eyes for the last time. 

Although he had to wonder if he was simply asleep at the moment. Perhaps he’d wake up and everything would be normal again. Maybe he’d wake up in his bed—the one from the old world—and be met by his bedroom and cat.

Everything was so much simpler back then. But he didn’t wish to go back. The dull, heavy feeling in his non-existent heart was not nostalgia or longing. He did not know of such things anymore. 

His soul was empty, just like the darkness surrounding him now. It welcomed him into its cold embrace, but for some reason he was hesitant to accept it.

‘Why?’ he thought to himself, drifting along. He’d easily accepted the dark when he’d consumed the Ender. The void was his domain. It was under his control so why couldn’t he accept it?

Dream may have floated along for thousands of years asking himself that question.

“Why?”

When he had first tasted death, he’d wondered why the gods could be so cruel as to end all life. Didn’t they care about the small creatures who had worshipped them? Didn’t they care at all?

Perhaps it was this spite that had driven him to seek that life-giving substance, glowstone. Perhaps it was the longing to strike back and spit in the face of those so-called gods that brought him back to life. 

But he had lost that feeling and that drive now. There was nothing he cared about and nothing he could care about. Not when he knew it would all turn to dust anyways.

“What was the point?” Those words tumbled over and over in his head. They rattled around and irritated him until he’d wished that he’d never learned them.

Dream had brought back his friends. He had been ready to establish a new life in a new world and do all of the things he had never gotten to do.

But even that had been stolen from him. 

His friends had merely watched from the sidelines as his body had been wounded over and over again. 

Now, Dream felt a cold anger spread through his soul.

“What the hell!” He shouted into the dark. “I thought they were my friends!”

He felt unsatisfied, only being able to scream. He wanted to tear, destroy, burn, and watch it all disappear with a satisfying shatter.

If the world could turn on him so easily and so readily, did he even want to live in it?

If his freedom could be taken from him so quickly and so cruelly, did he even want it?

All he’d ended up caring about was whether or not he was on top. As if power and favors had helped him in the end.

They had locked away his powers and the ones who had been indebted to him betrayed him and ignored his pleas. 

“It’s useless.” Maybe it was useless.

But as time moved forward, Dream began to have other ideas. He didn’t want to acknowledge them but with nothing else to distract him there was no helping it.

“Maybe if I hadn’t eaten the egg,” he mused. It was strange thinking about it. Of course he’d eaten the stupid egg. Why wouldn’t he?

He couldn’t imagine living without his powers. They had become part of him—fundamental to his very existence. What would he be without them?

“Maybe I wouldn’t be dead.” A bitter thought. One that continued to torment him for who-knows how long.

If he had not abandoned the light, would he have been saved from this endless darkness? Would he be happy with his friends now?

Fate had given him an opportunity to live again and it seemed like he’d just thrown it away. 

This feeling was uncomfortable and Dream wanted to avoid it. The void beckoned to him and he began to fall into its dark embrace. What was the point anymore?

He was ready to give up all that he had. His soul, his mind, and his heart. His last possessions in this cruel world.

As Dream began to let the void surround him, hug him like a friend or a lover, a small part of him cried out.

“Is this what you wanted?” it screamed feebly. It was pathetic and just listening to it made Dream pity it.

“It’s all I can do now.” He answered the voice indifferently. This was what was supposed to happen when he’d died the first time, and now he was simply returning back to his original path.

“Don’t you have any regrets?” The voice was bolder this time. It seemed to be interrogating him.

How strange.

“I don’t want to die weak.” Dream was certain of that. It was humiliating to be beaten down by those he’d once considered weaker than him. Weaker because they were powerless cowards who had not had the oppurtunities he’d had. Weaker because they cared too much about themselves and their silly little things.

“You mean you want to die on your stupid hill.” Dream was amazed by how aggressive the voice had become. What did it mean by those words? It was going to die with him so there was no point in saying anything now.

“I mean I don’t regret anything.” That was at least half-true. There was nothing left to regret after all.

“No Dream. You do regret it,” the voice had become louder than his own now. “Otherwise you would’ve joined the darkness you craved a long time ago.”

“Wha—” Dream tried to speak, but the voice cut him off.

“Just think about it.”

Dream decided he would not think about it. He was being stubborn again, just like he had been in life.

Everything always went his way. 

That was something he’d thought was guaranteed throughout his time in the new world. 

_ It hadn’t turned out like that though _ .

The void surrounded him fully now, ready to take him back and make him part of it.

He thought of his friends. His family. He remembered all of the things that happened in both of his lifetimes.

Of fun times and relaxing days, of grief and healing. Of excitement when he’d achieved something he’d worked so hard for.

Was he really about to throw that all away?

George and Sapnap’s face appeared in his mind.

He had chosen to bring them back to life. He’d wanted them by his side.

So where were they now?

He remembered how they had looked away from him as he lay on the ground, bleeding from wounds too numerous to count.

_ Was it because of him? _

His heart, if he still had one, seemed to twist about as if trying to escape the uncomfortable realization.

“What have I done?”

The darkness grabbed him, holding him tight.

His soul cried, knowing that it was the reason he’d ended up this way. Dream’s only thought was of how much he had lost.

Now, instead of indifference, his mind was filled with guilt and regret.

He cursed himself and the world he’d born into.

He cried out, hoping someone would hear him and take pity on his weak soul. Hoping that they would turn back time and give him just one more chance.

“I DO CARE!” he screamed as he became entangled in the darkness.

“I CARE!”

“...”

“I...care…”

Those were Dream’s final words as he became enveloped in the void he’d chosen.

And then…

_ WHOOSH _

~~~

Sunlight poked him hard in both eyes. 

Dream lifted up an arm, trying to block the harsh light.

And suddenly, he realized—

“I’m...alive?”

~~~~~~

So then, he decides to help. 

Based off of what happened when Techno was in Ranboo’s inventory, they figure out that glowstone is needed to go to the Aether.

However, it is only Ponk and Ranboo’s inventories which can see into the Aether. It is concluded that it is because of the Ender they have in them.

Ender is opposite to Aether in a way but it is still able to open up the aether dimension.

Thus, they need Dream to help with the portal.

I really wanted to right a kinda whump(?) (sadistic?) scene where they drain Dream of his blood but its too bad. Though I don’t think they need his blood to do it anyways.

Then they go and fight god(s)

~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, next is the final chapter!

If anyone made it this far despite my not-very-elegant explanation of the au, then thank you! This au really took over my brain for a while so I appreciate it.

Honestly, I’m kind of sad to say goodbye to it, but enough of that, let's _end_ this (lol)


	15. Act 0 Scene 0: End of All You Know, Beginning of All You Want

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the show!

The Aethers’ forms dissolved with a hiss, becoming blue and green specks that floated away into nothingness. All that was left of the former gods was a translucent blue cube and a green sphere, unimaginable power swirling within.

Tommy went to pick up the blue cube, but was beaten to it by a white and black hand.

“Hey!” he exclaimed. Dream held the cube in his hands, staring at it with his big, creepy eyes. Tommy realized that wasn’t a good thing.

“Dream, put the Aether down,” Phil said, voice low and commanding. He had realized it too. That giving the already powerful man more power wouldn’t turn out well.

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna take it or anything,” he said casually, turning the cube over in his hands. “I just...I don’t know.”

Techno looked at the man and sighed. He picked up the green sphere.

“Tubbo,” he started, walking towards the kid with bright green eyes. Those eyes had seemed to regain some of their shine after his reunion with Tommy. Too bad Techno couldn’t say the same for himself. If anything his eyes had only gotten more sunken and tired since being reunited with his brothers. “Do you want this?”

“W-What?” Tubbo looked at Techno, evidently very surprised the pig-man would offer the Aether to him. After all, they hadn’t been on the best of terms since the revolution. “W-Why me? What am I—”

“Tommy, Tubbo,” Dream said. “Techno and I…we decided something when we entered the Aether dimension.”

“And?” Tommy said, a bit rudely but he couldn’t help it. He still held a lot of animosity for the white and green man, given his experience in exile with him. “Decided to finally stop being a b*tch?” Dream frowned at that. Phil definitely gave him a stern look.

“Uhh kinda,” Techno said. “Well, we decided—”

“—maybe the world would be better off without us.”

Huh.

The silent moment felt like it lasted for eternity, when Phil finally spoke up.

“Techno? What do you mean,” he said, the hardness in his voice was gone. “You want to... _ die? _ ” No, Phil couldn’t be hearing this. He was going to lose his son  _ again? _

“Uh something like that,” he said casually, tossing the sphere up and catching it. Tubbo looked anxious as he watched the sphere being tossed through the air.

“You mean you want to become like Ghostbur?” Tubbo asked, tensed up, ready to catch the sphere should it fall.

“No,” Dream walked over to Tommy. Phil made just the slightest movement, as if he wanted to move in front of the kid, who’d tensed up seeing the god-like man approach him. “I- We want to return to the void.”

“What?” A new voice joined the conversation. The second person to be born to this wretched world. 

George.

“Dream, why—”

“You’re gonna leave us behind?”

“—don’t you care about us?”

Sapnap, George, Bad. His friends. He looked down at the cube in his hands, as if that could hide his embarrassment and shame.

“...I’ve hurt you guys too much,” he finally said. “And I don’t think I trust myself anymore.”

A look. Three pairs of hurt eyes watched the man fiddle with the glowing cube, pulsating light as if it were agitated.

“So we’re giving the Aether to you,” he finished. “Tommy and Tubbo.”

A few shocked yells and cries echoed through the crowd. It didn’t surprise Techno though. He’d expected as much.

“—you can’t!”

“—just a kid, come on.”

“—Really?  _ Tommy? _ ”

“Shut UP!” Tubbo yelled. “We aren’t as stupid as you think we are.” He watched Tommy, who was still staring at the blue cube in Dream’s hands. He couldn’t bear to see his friend being insulted. Not after what he’d done, and what had happened.

“Tommy isn’t stupid.”

Silence rang through the air.

“Well, uh,” Techno awkwardly said, breaking the tension. “What do you want to do then, Tommy? Tubbo?”

The two friends didn’t know what to say. Bring back L’Manberg? Destroy the Aether? Erase their memories like Ghostbur had?

“...I want peace,” Tommy said, in a voice that was just barely above a whisper. 

Dream looked at him thoughtfully. “Huh.”

“I-I want to be happy, with Tubbo,” he continued as if he hadn’t heard anything. “No more war or- or governments. Just peace.”

Techno may have smiled a bit at that. Inside he probably wanted to say “I told you so,” but instead he walked over to Tommy, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m proud of you Tommy.”

Wide blue eyes looked up into red ones.

_ Sniff. _

“Tommy are you crying?” Phil asked, concerned. He put a hand on his back.

The rest of the group watched awkwardly as Tommy cried, surrounded by his family and Tubbo. 

“Aw, don’t cry Tommy. We’re all together again, there’s no need to cry,” Ghostbur said, a transparent hand resting itself on Tommy’s head.

After a few minutes of tears and awkward watching, Tommy stood up straight.

“Well, I guess this is mine now then,” he said, as Dream handed him the blue cube.

“And this is yours Tubbo.” Techno tossed the sphere to the other boy, who barely managed to catch it.

“Wait, Techno,” Tubbo said suddenly, surprising the other man. “What about...how you said you wanted to be, uh, a part of the void again?”

Dream smiled a bit. “Don’t worry about that Tubbo, we’ll take care of it.”

“Oh, okay.” He looked down at the sphere in his hands. “And, um, how exactly do we use these?”

Oh, right.

~~~

After Dream explained the basics of using the power of Aether, which was similar to using Ender, he and Techno stepped away from the rest of the group.

“I guess this is goodbye.” Dream tried to stand tall, not to intimidate, but to try and hide the weakness he couldn’t conceal in his voice. He tried not to look at his friends.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again, Phil,” Techno said, facing the crowd. “And you too I guess Tommy. Wilbur.”

“Yeah, yeah, just get on with it T.” Techno smiled. He could see Tommy trying not to cry again.

“Techno.” He turned.

“Yeah Phil?”

“Love you.”

Dream turned to Techno after a moment, just barely too late to see the pink-haired man wipe the wetness from his red eyes. “So, we should get going huh?”

Hesitantly they grabbed each other’s hand, facing the crowd.

Raising them up above their heads, they looked as if they were somehow proud and victorious. As if all the tragedy meant nothing in the light of a new dawn. As if them leaving was their way of winning. 

The last words they heard—

“Goodbye Clay!

“—miss you muffinhead!”

“Bye big T!”

“—see ya in hell b*tch!”  _ Oh Tommy. _

...

“I’m proud of you.”

~~~

The crowd, made of those part of L’Manberg and the Badlands, of the SMP and more, watched as the two men who were once so god-like, disappeared in a brilliant flash of color.

Like fireworks on a fateful night, they showed off their combined power one last time, before disappearing and becoming only memories. Bright, dazzling memories.

“So, Tommy, should we do it?” Tubbo asked, looking to his friend after the colors had faded. His best friend. The one who’d insisted to bring him home when he was an abandoned child, left on the streets.

“Yeah.”

They faced each other, not really aware of the rest of the people watching them. 

‘Peace. No more fighting. No more pain.’ They chanted together in their thoughts. In their souls.

‘I want to run through fields of grass with Tubbo, or sit on a beach watching the sunset,’ Tommy thought, wished, prayed.

‘I want to listen to music with Tommy. Watch the bees flying from flower to flower. No more scary monsters in the night. Flowers,’ Tubbo hoped, willed, pleaded with the Universe.

The aethers hummed, burning hot in their hands, and yet, it didn’t hurt.

With baited breath, everyone present watched the light grow bigger and bigger, until they were consumed in an eruption of blue and green.

And they were gone.

~~~

_ Five Hundred Years Passed, _

_ Since man challenged god, _

_ Took its power for his own, _

_ And turned sin and sorrow, _

_ Into a new tomorrow, _

_ The sun rises yet again, _

_ On a new world rid of kings, _

_ No more power, no more war _

_ In a field, by a mountain and a forest, _

_ Far from the ruins of the once great nation, _

_ As the sun rises once more, _

_ Its brilliant golden rays illuminate, _

_ The mellow field, filled with flowers, _

_ Look carefully and see, when the sun shines so bright, _

_ The ghosts of two boys, laughing with delight, _

_ Music dances on a morning wind, _

_ Tickling the ears of hares, _

_ Melodies as sweet as honey, _

_ A son’s voice as warm as fire, _

_ Joined by laughter of a father, _

_ Admiring the lanterns, _

_ Built by souls far away _

_ Friends gather by a lake, _

_ Where it all began, _

_ They cry of sadness and joy, _

_ Crying out to the distant void, _

_ Of a friend come and gone, _

_ Two men, slumber together, _

_ Hands held in victory, _

_ Power, chaos, violence, anarchy, _

_ Drift off to lands unknown, _

_ Sleeping, the world hopes, _

_ That they never awaken, _

_ Lest god be brought back again, _

_ To make the world his playground _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "In case I don't see ya  
> Good Afternoon, good evening and good night"
> 
> (from the Truman show)
> 
> Also please just imagine there was an epic battle scene, I'm sorry lol
> 
> The ending is so dam cheesy I dont even remember making it this way haha. Welp, bye then!


End file.
